• Resilience for running!

We need our bodies to be incredibly resilient. When we run, we put a lot of stress and load through our body repeatedly over time. When we are running longer distances, we need our bodies, our muscles, our tendons and joints to be able to cope with this stress.
We know that the majority of injuries from running happen because of overload.

We’re doing too much and our bodies just cannot cope. We know that when we’re running, we can get up to five times our body weight going through the soft tissues of our lower limbs.

There’s a need to make sure that there’s something in the training program that’s getting your body ready for that and that is going to be some strength training – which means doing some loaded weight training.

• Energy efficiency for runners

Energy efficiency is vital in long-distance running.
Once you do get to the start line, you need to have energy reserves to be able to get to the finish line. This is particularly relevant for longer-distance running and you don’t want to waste any of that energy.
Maybe your spine is a bit stiff or a bit flexed and so your head is poking forwards. This will make your body work extra hard to resist gravity.
Having to work hard to maintain that posture over a long period of time will use up essential energy that you need to be putting into your legs.

If you do some exercise to work on your posture and spinal mobility this will make you as efficient as possible so that you’re using your energy systems in the best way possible to get you to the finish line.

• Core strength for runners

What is the core? Everyone talks about it but we don’t necessarily understand what they mean or how to get it stronger. It can be more helpful to think about it being your trunk strength.
If it’s the front, the back, the sides of your trunk, and that’s really your foundation. The core is the base from which everything else can work efficiently. The core gives you efficient use of your lower limb muscles and efficient use of your arms when you’re running. Having better core strength will reduce the risk of you overloading your muscles, tendons and your lower limbs, so you’re going to reduce the risk of injury.
Choosing Pilates can also improve your running technique. The stronger and more stable and controlled you are from your centre, the better your technique can be, and the better and more efficiently you can use your limbs, which again is going to reduce the risk of injury and maybe make you able to run a little bit faster.

• Recovery for runners

Pilates can aid our recovery after training runs. Running is a high-impact exercise, so every time you take a step, you’re pounding down into the floor. All of that force is coming back up into your body and you’re having to absorb that shock through your joints and muscles.
No impact or low-impact exercise such as Pilates gives your body the ability to actively recover from the higher intensity of running. You are still working on mobility and muscle activation, but you are giving your body that recovery time where it’s not doing repeated impact loading.
This will reduce the risk of injury, and get you to the start line healthy.
I cannot mention recovery without talking about sleep. Over the past few years, there is an accumulation of evidence from sports science showing that getting enough sleep is necessary for muscle regeneration following exercise damage and for the regulation of our hormones and immune system. It is important to get 7 – 9 hours of good quality sleep when you are training intensively.

• Breathing for runners

One of the main principles of Pilates is breathing. During Pilates, you may practise breathing exercises or use breathing to assist your movements. Pilates enhances your awareness of your breathing patterns.
It is common, for example, for people to breathe at a shallow depth. This shallow breathing means you are not using the full capacity of the ribcage and diaphragm to get more oxygen into your system. If you can translate improved breathing patterns into your running, it can have a positive effect in terms of energy efficiency. If you are overusing the muscles in your neck and shoulders when you’re breathing, you’re not going to be expending energy there.
Instead, you’re going to be using your diaphragm and breathing through the whole of your chest and lungs.
If you improve your breathing pattern, you will be getting plenty of oxygen transferring through your lungs and into your blood flow. This is essential for the energy systems of the body.
Another reason why breathing is so important is that your diaphragm is part of your core. The diaphragm works with the deep abdominals, pelvic floor and spinal muscles to give you a strong and stable centre. Breathing well and using your breath when you move can really help with that.

• Specificity of training for runners

Specificity is a classic training principle. The idea of specificity in training is that your body adapts specifically to the type of demand placed upon it.
For example, your gluteal muscles work in different ways depending on whether your foot is in contact with the floor or not, and whether you are upright or in a seated position. Working your gluteals in a sitting position or squat position may be more suitable for a cyclist and working the gluteals in a standing position may be more suitable for a runner.

You want to make sure that you are working specifically for running and that’s going to be whether it’s strength training or Pilates training.

Pilates for running gives the body the ability to work more through the complex movements that are actually required for running. People often think running is simple, and that we should all just be able to do it. However, we need a good amount of hip flexion, extension, and rotation in the hips. We need rotation in the spine and in the body, and good control of the movement through our shoulders, our head and neck posture.

• Consistency is key for running training

With running, It’s really important to be consistent. This applies to Pilates and strength training as well. Once you’ve got a program in place whether it is strength training, Pilates, or other cross-training, stay consistent with it.

The body takes time to respond to training. Not only do our tissues such as muscles and ligaments take time but our nervous system also takes time to adapt. It takes up to six weeks for your nervous system to adapt to new exercises. As the nervous system adapts, your movement control improves and you will feel stronger and then the benefits of consistent Running, Strength and especially Pilates training is evident.